For the first time since the start of the war in Ukraine, Russian President Putin granted an interview to a US moderator. In it he called on Ukraine to talk. He ruled out an invasion of Poland – with one exception.
Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a detailed interview to a Western media representative for the first time since the start of the war of aggression against Ukraine. In an interview with US presenter Tucker Carlson, he called on the United States to persuade the Ukrainian government to negotiate an end to the war.
It is up to Washington to stop arms deliveries to Ukraine, which he described as a “satellite” of the USA. “We have never rejected negotiations,” Putin said, referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s refusal to hold talks with the Kremlin. The US “should tell the current Ukrainian leadership to stop and come to the negotiating table,” Putin told Carlson, a former Fox News host.
In the interview, Putin expressed the view that the West would never succeed in inflicting a “strategic defeat” on Russia in Ukraine.
“No interest in Poland or Latvia”
In the interview, Putin dismissed fears that Russia had plans to attack Poland or other NATO countries. Except for one scenario, this is “completely out of the question”. Only in the event that “Poland attacks Russia” would he send troops to the EU country.
Russia has no interest in Poland, Latvia or other countries, Putin said. “Why should we do that? We’re just not interested.” It contradicts common sense to get involved in “a kind of global war”. He accused the NATO states of intimidating their own people by creating the illusion of an “imaginary Russian threat.”
Putin reiterated his claim that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which Kiev and its allies described as an unprovoked act of aggression, was necessary to protect Ukraine’s Russian-speaking residents. He also had to prevent Ukraine from posing a threat to Russia after possible NATO accession.
Putin shows himself in the Gershkovich case “ready to talk”
When asked about the US journalist Evan Gershkovich, who was imprisoned in Russia, the president did not rule out his release. “It makes no sense to keep him in prison in Russia.” The US should think about how it could contribute to a solution, emphasized the Kremlin chief – and hinted at the possibility of a prisoner exchange. “We are ready to talk.”
He indicated that in return he would like the release of an agent imprisoned in Germany. Putin referred to a man who was in prison in a “country allied with the United States” because he had eliminated a “bandit.”
Putin did not name any names but appeared to be referring to Vadim K., a Russian serving a life sentence in Germany for the 2019 murder of a Chechen-born Georgian in Berlin’s Tiergarten. According to the verdict, K. acted on behalf of Russian authorities.
Carlson from Fox News kicked out
The right-wing talk show host Carlson conducted the conversation with Russia’s president in Moscow. He published the 127-minute recording on the X platform.
The 54-year-old Carlson is known for spreading conspiracy theories and was fired from the ultra-conservative US broadcaster Fox News last year, without giving reasons for the dismissal at the time. He had hosted a high-ratings evening show there for years. Carlson used this to spread conspiracy theories and false reports, to attack the Democratic Party and to agitate against minorities. Shortly afterwards he started his own show on X.
Carlson did not question Putin’s long statements in the current interview. He also refrained from describing the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine as such or speaking of an invasion. Critics had already identified this in advance of the conversation as the reason why the Kremlin chief may have granted the American an interview.
When asked, US National Security Council Communications Director John Kirby cautioned that nothing said in the interview should be taken at face value. “Remember, you are listening to Vladimir Putin,” he said.